Reunited Cheech & Chong bring farewell tour to Macomb Music Theatre

Green as in a golf course, he meant. He’s already publicly acknowledged his affinity for marijuana, and makes periodic comedic references to the intoxicating substance during the course of a 20-minute telephone interview.

“I am getting serious about the game – I am addicted to it,” the 74-year-old actor-comedian-musician-writer said of his passion for golf.

“I look at my calendar all the time and wonder ‘Do I have time to get in nine holes?’ It’s my religion. The whole culture of golf is based on honesty, being polite and helping each other out. I love it.”

Relaxing on the links may not be the image most have of Chung, who is best known for his marijuana-themed comedy act as part of the iconic Cheech & Chong duo with longtime business partner Richard “Cheech” Marin.

The Grammy-winning pair have teamed up to record nine hit comedy albums, eight feature films they co-wrote and starred in, including “Up In Smoke,” which took in $100 million in the box office, and many live performances.

Although they split for about 25 years, Cheech & Chong reunited in 2008 and are now back on the road doing their special brand of music and comedy including a show Sunday night at Macomb Music Theatre in Mount Clemens.

“This is a third farewell tour,” Chong said jokingly. “Cher had seven. We’re into our third.”

Chong notes the date of the Mount Clemens show is April 21, or one day after April 20, which in the counter culture is traditionally known as 4-20 or “weed day” to smoke pot.

“We’ll be in Michigan on 4-20. It’s officially stoner time, a day late. ‘Oh man, we missed it,’” he said with a laugh.

Their appearance in Mount Clemens comes days after “Cheech & Chong’s Animated Movie,” is released in theaters nationwide. It features the pair as animated characters reliving their original comedy routines such as “Sister Mary Elephant,” Earache My Eye” and “Dave’s Not Here, Man.”

Chong said the film will be shown for one night only and then be available on You Tube.

Cheech & Chong are also going to launch an “Up in Smoke” tour with War and Tower of Power in May.

For Chong, the son of a French-Scottish waitress and a Chinese truck driver, being back in southeastern Michigan is familiar territory. He was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and raised in Vancouver before he dropped out of high school to play guitar in a blues band.

One of his bands signed with Motown Records and had modest hit single, “Does Your Mama Know About Me,” which was later recorded by Diana Ross and Jermaine Jackson.

“That song gave me instant credibility with soul music people because it was the first one about interracial marriage,” he said. “But it really was the start of my comedy training. When I was at Motown, all we did was make music and laugh. We just had so much fun playing jokes on each other.”

A short time later, he met Marin and the Cheech & Chong act was born.

Over the years, their drug-flavored humor and appetite for marijuana morphed into becoming advocates for legalizing pot, a move Chong maintains one day will “bring in so much tax revenue, it will blow your mind.”

“Legalization is inevitable,” he said. “They’ve let the smoke out of the bong and you can’t put it back in now. You can thank the Internet for that. You Google marijuana and you’ll find it does more good things than bad.

“Now, it is an intoxicant and many people have had problems overindulging. But it’s not addicting. If you have a problem with pot, you stop, as it has no byproduct other than psychological. It’s a medicine that should be treated with respected by everyone, including the police.”

Chong said he’s grateful his comedy career has given him a platform to talk about legalizing marijuana and respects the power of being a celebrity.

“It’s incredible, you have no idea how much influence Cheech and Chong have had on the culture,” he said. “We’re all over the world thanks to the Internet. It’s quite humbling.”

Despite their advancing age, Chong said, like the Rolling Stones, there’s no end to the adventure.